The Knight First Amendment Institute, a digital rights group out of Columbia University,published an open letter to President Trump on Tuesday asking him to unblock his critics on Twitter or potentially face legal action for violating their constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
In the four-page letter, the lawyers argue that Twitter operates as a designated public forum for First Amendment purposes, and accordingly the viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is constitutional. <\/p>\n
Because being blocked by a person on Twitter means you cant see, search for, retweet or quote-tweet the other user, the Knight Institute argues that Trump is silencing American citizens based on their viewpoint and impeding upon their ability to critique the government when he blocks his critics, both rights protected by the First Amendment. From the Knight Institute: <\/p>\n
Of course, it is easy to understand why you and your advisers might have found our clients posts to be disagreeable. Even if the posts were scornful and acerbic, however, they were protected by the First Amendment. As the Supreme Court has observed, [t]he sort of robust political debate encouraged by the First Amendment is bound to produce speech that is critical of those who hold public office, and public officials will on occasion be subject to vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks. The protection of speech critical of government officials is perhaps the core concern of the First Amendment, because the freedom of individuals to engage in this kind of speech is crucial to self-government. <\/p>\n
This letter comes only days after a confusing back and forth from Trumps advisers on whether or not Trumps tweets represent the White House. During Tuesdays press briefing, Sean Spicer said that the presidents tweets are in fact official White House statements, even though Spicer himself spends considerable time at these briefings distancing the White House from Trumps messages on Twitter. Spicers confirmation comes just one day after Kellyanne Conway criticizedthe medias obsession with the presidents tweets. <\/p>\n
But well let the man speak for himself: <\/p>\n
Spicer and Trump are seemingly of one mind on how seriously to take Trumps Twitter tantrums. That may actually be bad news for Trumps political agenda, as the ACLU promised to use his recent string of tweets on the Muslim travel ban against him in future legal cases. <\/p>\n
Trumps greatest Twitter meltdown, however, might be coming later this week: According to The Washington Posts Robert Costa, the president is expected to live-tweet ex-FBI director James Comeys testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. At a March hearing, Comey was called to fact-check one of the presidents tweets in real time.<\/p>\n
To most, a world without Trumps Twitter account probably sounds like a wonderful reprieve, but the Knight Institute is demanding the president or his subordinates take action to unblock users immediately. <\/p>\n
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See the original post here: <\/p>\n
Free Speech Group Says Trump Violates the First Amendment by Blocking Critics on Twitter - Gizmodo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Knight First Amendment Institute, a digital rights group out of Columbia University,published an open letter to President Trump on Tuesday asking him to unblock his critics on Twitter or potentially face legal action for violating their constitutional rights. In the four-page letter, the lawyers argue that Twitter operates as a designated public forum for First Amendment purposes, and accordingly the viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is constitutional Continue reading